Development of environmentally friendly SCP filling material using bamboo chips

Abstract

Sand compaction pile method (referred to as SCP method), one of the liquefaction countermeasure methods, has a long history, and its design, construction, and materials have been improved according to the needs of the times for more than half a century (Obayashi et al., 2015, Harada 2021). Sand and gravel are the most common filling materials used in the SCP method. However, due to the depletion of high-quality materials and environmental considerations, alternative materials such as steel slag, blast furnace slag, RC, and sand mixed with shells have been used. Meanwhile, in recent years, government policies such as the SDGs and the promotion of carbon neutrality have been implemented to curb global warming. In the civil engineering sector, decarbonizations initiatives are also required, and the selection of environmentally friendly materials and construction methods is considered important, and various civil engineering technologies have been developed using biomass materials that incorporate carbon. The authors therefore believe that SCP methods also need to develop new filling materials to meet the needs of the age of decarbonization. In this study, we focused on bamboo, which grows faster than other trees and is becoming a problem in neglected bamboo forests due to its fertility. The objective is to develop a new material for carbon sequestration in the ground by mixing bamboo chips with conventional filling material in the SCP method. The experimental results showed that the mixture of conventional filling material and bamboo chips is strong enough to replace the filling material in the SCP method.